5 Questions With Matt Cimino, Ph.D., Senior Manager at Maryland Department of Commerce
January 31, 2023
“5 Questions With…” is a recurring BioBuzz series where we reach out to interesting people to share a little about themselves, their work, and maybe something completely unrelated. This week we welcome Matt Cimino, Ph.D., Senior Manager at the Maryland Department of Commerce.
Matt has over 30 years of experience in life sciences, business development, and entrepreneurship. He has founded and directed numerous companies, including ones that manufacture, wholesale, warehouse, and sell products on an industrial scale, as well as companies that perform environmental and analytical testing.
A champion of innovation, Matt has launched multiple new brands and numerous award-winning products across Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia. In his post-graduate career, Matt was featured in US News and World Report and served as a forensic research and development Laboratory Director funded by the National Institutes of Health and multiple Defense agencies. He has authored peer-reviewed publications on plant systematics, identification, and quality assurance, including a discovery of plant species that were new to science. Matt has served as a Maryland lobbyist and has held numerous board positions. He holds a B.S. (1991) and M.Ed. (1993) from Salisbury University and a PhD in Plant Biology (2003) from the University of Maryland College Park.
1) Please introduce yourself to our audience by looking back at your education, training, and career path.
Appreciation of the life sciences is a unifying theme across my education and professional experience. My undergraduate and graduate studies at Salisbury University led me to focus on biology and chemistry, as well as research and teaching. During my years at SU, I immersed myself in teaching science and spending time in the field learning the plants of Maryand. My passion for the life sciences continued as I was accepted into the PhD program for Plant Biology at the University of Maryland – College Park. While at the University of Maryland, I gained a deeper understanding of plant ecology, systematics and evolution. I was very lucky to be part of a great research laboratory, surrounded by wonderful faculty and fellow graduate students.
After wrapping up my dissertation, I was given the opportunity to join a private forensic research team in Chantilly, VA that was interested in analyzing DNA associated with environmental samples. At the same time, I was awarded an SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant supported development of DNA-based methods to test the identity of plants found in herbal dietary supplements. Shortly thereafter, I became a DNA lab director and led a talented group of post-docs and technicians. Our lab developed novel techniques for inferring new types of information from forensic samples.
In 2010, I transitioned from forensic research and embraced value-added agriculture by joining the craft beverage industry. Over the following decade, I launched, developed, and exited several companies in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as entered into several joint ventures in Virginia and Delaware. My knowledge of business continued to grow as I gained experience with local and regional farms, supply chain management, logistics, manufacturing, marketing, and customer service, all within the highly regulated alcohol industry.
2) You’re new to the Maryland Department of Commerce team – what are some of your goals for the next 6-12 months?
During my second week at Commerce, a fellow colleague described the entry process as being similar to drinking from a fire hose. Fortunately for me, I have some childhood experience taking sips of water from a garden hose. Alas, even so, I am awash with new information, but very happy and excited to be learning so much.
Seriously though, a few of my goals include learning the resources, connecting with people, and supporting my team within the Office of Life Sciences, as well as the broader group in the Office of Strategic Industries and Entrepreneurship, among others.
3) You’ve been a Marylander for a long time – in your mind, what are the top 3 reasons that life science businesses should set their roots in Maryland?
Access to a highly diverse and educated workforce with close proximity to great research institutions, in my opinion, makes Maryland a great state for business growth in the life sciences. The network of universities, private labs, and federal institutions in the Frederick-Baltimore-Washington triangle is unique. The associated infrastructure and community among these organizations are supportive of collaboration and growth in the life sciences, among many other areas of business and development.
I also think the leadership of Maryland is supportive of business growth in the life sciences, which is a huge help for start-ups and others that are looking to expand. It’s like having the wind at your back.
Another important reason might include Maryland having a lower cost of living compared to other US biotech centers, like Boston and San Francisco. If companies find it difficult to hire from our local workforce, attraction of talent from other places is easier when their salaries can leverage more resources.
4) On the flip side, what do you think Maryland needs to do to continue growing as a top national biohub and retain its talent/entrepreneurs?
I think as the life sciences industry grows in Maryland, so will its status as a top national biohub. Similarly, as the life sciences industry expands and the supporting ecosystem continues to diversify, I think people will continue to choose Maryland as their home.
I feel fortunate to have joined the Office of Life Sciences at a time when significant new resources are being created and new investment funds are on the horizon. I also feel confident that Maryland is doing the right things to keep its national biohub status.
In short, I think Maryland needs to keep up the good work and continue to nurture innovation and development within the life sciences industry.
5) Now for the fun question – we can’t ignore your background in Plant Biology. If you were to be any plant, which plant would you be and why?
This question is kind of hard for me to answer because I’ve never really thought about actually being a plant and I have an annoying attribute of not having favorites. However, I think it might be interesting to imagine being an American Beech tree living as part of a large forest in the Eastern US. The word “ecosystem” is often used to describe various sectors of Maryland’s Life Sciences industry. With that in mind, I was drawn to the American Beech, a plant that plays numerous roles in the forest community ecosystem.
Beech trees can live hundreds of years and can become one of the largest trees in Eastern North American forests. The large canopy architecture of beech trees provides shelter and habitat for many types of wildlife, including birds, reptiles, mammals, insects, spiders, and lichens. Beech trees are deciduous and for reasons that remain unknown, they don’t shed their leaves until springtime when the leaf buds for the new season begin to grow. That makes them easy to spot during the winter, as their bright tan leaves from the former season remain on the branches and stand out against the smooth gray bark of the tree.
Like most other trees, beeches are important for filtering the air, providing shade, and absorbing water during intense summer downpours. Fully mature beech trees produce a fruit called beech nuts. These nuts directly support a diverse range of vertebrate life, including turkeys, quail, and wood ducks, as well as raccoons, deer, foxes, rabbits, opossums, bears, among others. Various rodents enjoy beechnuts, too, like mice, squirrels, and chipmunks. In this way, beech trees also indirectly support populations of reptiles and birds of prey that feast on the rodents.
Beech trees also serve as a host to another, entirely different plant called beechdrops. Beechdrops is a diminutive flowering herb that is dependent on the roots of the beech tree. Without a mature beech tree, beechdrops can not complete its life cycle.
I could keep going with this metaphor, there is so much to talk about in ecology and ecosystems, especially those related to eastern forests and the mighty American Beech. However, the same is true for the ecosystem surrounding Maryland’s life sciences industry. I’m eager to learn more.
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